4/27/2015 12:30 AM PT

EXCLUSIVE

Former "Baywatch" babe Nicole Eggert is drowning in debt ... but a bankruptcy court judge just threw her a huge lifeline and green lit the sale of her crib to pay off mounting bills.

According to real estate sources Nicole unloaded her 3 bed/2/bath 2,250 sq. ft. Studio City home for a cool $1.15 mil. Most of that is going toward the $805k she still owes on the house she originally snagged for $835k.

In 2013 Eggert filed for bankruptcy and this year she asked a judge to let her to sell off the pad to cover her debt and get a fresh start. She got the thumbs up on April 8th and sold a few days later.